Does Xanax help with headaches?

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What do you know about Xanax? This is a prescription medication that is used by patients suffering from various types of disorders, including anxiety and phobias. Lately it was also approved for some additional health conditions including Xanax for headaches. It means that while treating panic disorders and social anxiety, occasional or general anxiety, it also saves from muscle pain, migraines and insomnia. For most people it is a perfect choice. Yet still, it’s important to keep in mind that it can be dangerous, if abused.

Xanax: Action Method and Onset

The brain contains the so-called natural tranquilizers – gamma amino butyric acids or GABA. The tranquilizers are located in the neurotransmitters and are easily triggered by stress or anxiety. GABA works calming one’s breath as well as heart rate as anxiety levels.

When Xanax is administered, it binds some parts of GABA and modulates them. Xanax is a benzodiazepine that stifles the inhibitory receptor, lowers it and attaches itself to gamma amino butyric acids, thus increasing their tranquilizing characteristics.

It is said that the medication can work within 15 minutes, yet the action onset is not that speedy in all cases. The maximum time amount required for a proper work to be started is 1 hour. What about the effects? The more GABAs a person has, the more effectively this anti-anxiety medication works.

How Does Xanax Work for Headaches?

Headaches are always bilateral. The pain has a tendency to move from the side of the head, top of it or back. It can vary from moderate to mild or severe during the whole day or one hour only. When it becomes really persistent and no other medication seems to be effective enough to deal with it, Xanax for headaches is prescribed.

Relief is experienced within 30 minutes after administration. Taking high doses is not the way out, as even the lowest ones can prove their benefits. Does Xanax help with headaches? – Yes, it does. There’s a common myth that the medication makes you feel calm or relaxed after it’s administered, however, in case with migraines or headaches it just makes any pain go away. Besides, when a low dose is not taken regularly, yet only when needed, it doesn’t produce the calming effect that Xanax is known for.

What Xanax Dosage Is Prescribed for Headache Relief?

Things depend on the severity of the condition. However, in case of Xanax for migraines the starting dose is really low as it aims not at relaxation, but at pain relief. It s important to point out that this medication will work for your headache only in case the latter one was provoked by stress, phobia or anxiety, yet not by such physiological causes as blood pressure abnormalities, serious health conditions (cancer, for example) or flue.

Start with a 0.25 mg dose that can be administered not regularly, but only when needed. It may be increased up to 0.5 mg, yet not more in case of headache. A doctor may prescribe to take a 0.25 mg pill twice a day in case of severe and regular migraines, yet the treatment course won’t last for more than 8 weeks, otherwise dependence develops.

Self-administration of Xanax migraine can harm your body and cause serious side effects that will require additional treatment. Doctors normally provide the following recommendations for the use:

Never take Xanax with alcohol as such combination can lead to a fatal outcome;

If you feel stomachache after administration, have a snack to decrease the impact of the drug’s active substance on stomach walls. In case of a repeated use, please eat before taking a pill.

Side Effects of Xanax

If you take Xanax for headache, get ready to experience either common or rare side effects. There are people, who experience neither of them. However they are an exception rather than a rule. If you are aware of potential adverse reactions, you are well-prepared and have a chance to avoid their complications and even a fatal outcome.

The list of the most common side effects includes:

Drowsiness;

Dry mouth;

Unsteadiness;

Lightheadedness;

Dizziness;

Speech disturbances;

Clumsiness.

As to rare or less common side effects to be expected, their list is broader and may include blurred vision as well as other vision changes, ED problems in some males and lack of sexual desire, problems urinating and muscle spasms, weakness or unusual tiredness, weight changes or increased saliva, shaking or trembling, etc.

There can’t be any doubt that Xanax for migraine is very effective, if taken in low doses. Its high doses are needed for cases of severe stress and anxiety disorders. Xanax has been approved for a new use not so long ago. Taking it without a proper consultation is the wrong step to be taken as it will lead to side effects that are more severe than the migraine itself.

Author: Dr. Andrew J. Olson

Dr. Andrew J. Olson is a PHD in psychiatry. He is also a psychiatrist consultant at the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust. He also serves as a Clinical Director of the Department of Psychiatry, at Royal Marsden Hospital, in London, UK.

Xanax is a widely-used drug that is often prescribed for slowing down...

What do you know about Xanax? This is a prescription medication that is used by patients suffering from various types of disorders, including anxiety and phobias. Lately it was also approved for some additional health conditions including Xanax for headaches. It means that while treating panic disorders and social anxiety, occasional or general anxiety, it also saves from muscle pain, migraines and insomnia. For most people it is a perfect choice. Yet still, it’s important to keep in mind that it can be dangerous, if abused. Xanax: Action Method and Onset The brain contains the so-called natural tranquilizers – gamma…